Different garments provide different features for users, including aesthetic and functional features, some of which overlap. Functional features include covering certain portions of the wearer's body and providing support for certain other body portions. Aesthetic features include the overall image presented when a person wears a particular garment, as well as a change in the outward appearance of certain portions of a wearer's body due to wearing the garment.
Garments known in the art have incorporated compressive materials in order to more firmly support areas of a wearer's body than traditional materials, to give the appearance of a more slender figure. Some such garments are made exclusively of compressive materials. Others combine compressive materials with traditional noncompressive materials to balance the aesthetic and functional features of the garments.
For example, Japan Patent Laid-open Application JP 2006-316359, incorporated herein by reference, describes a sleeveless underwear garment that is a sort of undershirt one can put on downward from the head, which has a length enough to cover from shoulders to the vicinity of the crotch portion, and fits the body so as not to have an effect on the surface of the outer clothes. The sleeveless underwear consists on the front main body part and rear main body part, which are cylindrically formed together by round-braid knitting. A part of the sleeveless underwear includes different knitting organization to have the different tightening forces to corresponding parts. Specifically, in the vicinity of the waistline, a rib stitch provides a great straining force. The area with prescribed upper and lower width along the upper edge and lower edge of the support area has a cushioning area, which is formed by the different types of rib stitch to have a weaker straining force than the support area.
In addition, U.S. published application 2008-0134409, incorporated herein by reference, describes a shirt for supporting and shaping the mid-section of a wearer. The mid-section of the shirt includes an upper and lower region each constructed having a plurality of fabric densities or integrated elasticity portions. These elasticity portions provide support for the abdominal region, back, and back-side regions of the wearer where “love handles” sometime develop. The top-section of the shirt has a substantially loose fitting construction to yield a simple, clean and comfortable fit that facilitates breath-ability and comfort to the wearer. The shirt may be worn as an undershirt or as outerwear to minimize the wearer's torso. In another embodiment, the shirt further comprises an outer portion that extends over and covers the mid-section so that the mid-section acts as an internal support structure when the shirt is worn as a T-shirt or outerwear.
Notwithstanding the prior art support undergarments, there remains a need in the art for a women's garment adapted to support and shape the mid-section of a woman that is comfortable to wear and easy to position and/or maintain the position correctly. In addition, there is a need in the art for a woman's garment that shapes the mid-section of a woman in a comfortable manner.